This invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing an annular or ring-shaped component in the form of a wound ferromagnetic tape provided at an end face with a plurality of slots, the component to be used in an electrical axial-field machine.
As described in German Patent No. 700,879, such an annular or ring-shaped component is manufactured from a ferromagnetic tape by providing individual cutouts along an edge of the tape at a stamping station upstream of a winding station. To accomplish the stamping out of the cutouts, the motion of the magnetic tape past the stamping station and the concomitant coiling of the tape at the winding station must be periodically interrupted. For this reason, a continuous winding motion of the ferromagnetic tape under a constant tension is impossible. In addition, the spacings of the cutouts from each other must be increased as the winding operation progresses, i.e., as the circumference of the ring winding increases, in order to maintain an alignment of the cutouts from winding to winding to form a plurality of slots. Inasmuch as such a spacing is impossible to control exactly, expensive reworking and smoothing of the resulting slot walls are required.
In an improvement of this manufacturing method, disclosed in German Laid-Open Application (Ausleqeschrift) No. 10 33 768, a hardenable synthetic resin is continuously applied to the ferromagnetic tape as a lubricating, insulating and binding agent which joins the individual layers of the slotted ring winding to form a solid part. The formation of the slots is accomplished during the winding operation and at the winding station. The slots are formed by a stamping tool guided from the inside of the partially formed ring through recesses in a winding arbor. In this method, the cutouts along the edge of the ferromagnetic tape are properly spaced from one another owing to a uniform angular advancement of the winding arbor with the partially formed ring wound thereon. In addition, the stamping tool is able to machine the edges of the cutout in the outer tape layer during each respective stamping operation, thereby deburring the inner slot division walls. A disadvantage of the improved manufacturing method disclosed in German Auslegeschrift No. 10 33 768 is that a continuous winding process cannot proceed inasmuch as during the stamping operation the partially formed ring must be stationary. Moreover, a uniform thickness of the layers in the ring is not possible because the stamping process itself causes local deformations. Sufficiently smooth inside walls of the slots are not obtainable because of the wear of the stamping tools. In addition, only radially extending slots can be fabricated.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for manufacturing an electric axial-field machine component of the above-described type.
A concomitant object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for performing, or facilitating the performance of, such an improved method.
Another, more particular, object of the present invention is to provide such a method and apparatus wherein the manufactured machine part has a uniform winding density and is provided with smooth-walled slots of any selected shape and position.